39 Comments

Gezza

So, the other day, quite early in the morning a Maori dude was outside the Super busking, with an electric acoustic, a mic & a decent busking amp, & doing this song. And he was flamin excellent!

His guitar work (he was finger picking – I can’t do it like him, mine’s embarrassing by comparison) was brilliant. I couldn’t resist going up to listen, & singing a little bit harmony on the chorus.

People were walking past & there was no money in his guitar case. He really WAS good. He did some other numbers, & I gave him all my gold coins ($6). He said cheers bro, I hear from that harmony you’re a muso too. I said yup, not as good as you tho. I love the sound of your guitar. Could I have a wee play? He said sure – so I whacked the strap over me shoulder & just launched into some blues & stones riffs. Oh, old stuff he said. Yeah, that’s good.

His setup was excellent, low action, just perfect. And 6 people came by & listened one after the other & tossed coins into his guitar case before moving on.

And then I said thanks man that guitar’s amazing and gave it back & then I left & I felt a bit stink now cos he looked unhappy.

Gezza

Pickled Possum

Morena bro Love Australian Crawl
She dont like that kind of behaviour!

Why would the busker look unhappy? Becos you got the goods for the putea.

Been at a ceromony yesterday where Maori spoken then English then waiata From maori then english. Not after whaikorero but church speak from the Rev.
I was looking around and Jez Gez I was the only brown face there.
I thought bout what Duncan said the other day when we sang nz song in Maori then English. Thought he should come up here for a little divercity. 😊

Things hotting up down there in The Supermarket eh?
With the beautiful wahine supervisor.
Dont go breaking her heart.
I hear you say, “I couldn’t if I tried”. 😀

Gezza

Before he got the hoha look (might be an iwi thing, some Maori & Pakeha people think I’m Maori – he might have it in for Te Atiawa) he said to me: How old are you bro? I said 62. Why? He said You look younger. ☘ ❤️ 🌴

Conspiratoor

Gezza

Blazer

Gezza

STREAM UPDATE
* A small (10 ft?) Pittosporum 5m left of my adjacent section of parenga has collapsed into the stream. It is possible it did so under the weight of one or more pukekos.
* This frees up more airspace for hotshot approaches but should ensure safer landings by Charlie on runway A above the BSBlock wall.
* Charlie, Prettygirl, Pooky, Bluey, & Bluebelle have already rocked on up, in separate species sittings 15 minutes apart, had breakfast, & toddled off to do their respective things. Bluey arrived first, hopped up on the fence & called “Garçon!”
* It appears to have rained last night in the hills as the stream is running murky & not yet cleared. It is sufficiently translucent to note no nga tuna are currently visible in station at Ella’s stump.

Gezza

Ok. Update for those interested, skip if not – I mean you no harm.
Rain’s stopped already, so stream will stay crystal clear.
Ella came right out straight away & got the first chunk.
Only Ella, no other nga tuna appeared during the entire 15 minute experiment.
She then swam around for the whole 15 minutes. Charlie motored on up to say hi, & jumped in the water when her dorsal fin rubbed his little orange webbies, hadn’t seen her power underneath him. She didn’t nip him.
All told, I threw in 6 chunks, minutes apart, trying get them in front of her. She got 3. They drifted slightly before settling on the bottom. Unless they fell & sank right in front of her she appeared aware of them – waved her head from side to side as if sniffing te wai.
Two, she got by undulating slowly downstream, turning, & swimming slowly back up pretty well straight to where they were, on the stony stream bed.
She rolled onto her side, exposing her silver/cream bottom half to ingest them.
She definitely looks like a shark. Definitely grey.
The view of her was perfect, the best ever.
When I pulled my cellphone out to film her, the bloody thing threw a wobbly & wouldn’t record.
By the the time I’d rebooted & it was working again she’d slid back into one of her hidey holes in the stump.
Fk its started raining again: I blame Winston Peters.
That is all.
0924 hours

Gezza

Patient appears well & to be suffering no discomfort. Probably remains unaware the damaged section of aileron feather has been removed.
His overall appearance is tidy & much improved.

Examination of the excised section under magnifier shows an approximate 2/5 of a 3rd or 4th outboard flight feather, there is a jagged break around virtually the entire circumference of a hollow main spar, a hair’s width of spar appears to have kept the loose feather attached, even during post break flights – a testament to the structural robustness of keratin.

The opinion is that the break was sustained during patients recent, second, collision with a flight safety hazard – namely a thin tree branch patient faild to see & avoid on reckless landing approach.

The main spar & base feather arrangement are presumed to remain attached to the body covering. At this point in time I am uncertain whether this will at some time be replaced by natural shedding and replaced by a new one, but it is expected removal will not greatly hinder flight performance, if at all.

Gezza

patupaiarehe

Yup, for sure G. A most under-appreciated instrument, yet easier than guitar. Jr heard me playing this one earlier, and suddenly wanted “his” bass back. “Can you email me the tab for that song you were just playing Dad”, were his last words before he ran back to his room with it. So I did, of course… 😀

patupaiarehe

Gezza

I can’t sing and play lead at the same time. But the vocals there are done playing rhythym. If he wants to sing AND play, encourage him to give it a go as often as possible while rhythyming. My bet – He’ll be self-conscious about his voice, so he won’t be able to relax & treat it like an instrument too. He probably won’t know his range. Never criticise his singing. Harder than learning to play guitar in public, singing in public.

If he just wants to be a guitarist really & back another singer, go for it – nuttin wrong with that. Plenty of fab successful bands do that.

Has he “written” / recorded anything himself? Or is he more interested in doing accurate covers?

Gezza

Patu

He is a talented singer too G, sang a solo part two years running in the youth choir before he went to college. He just ‘gets’ music, and regularly plays stuff on the piano that he has learned on guitar, just to show off 🙂